I went to an exhibit of Japanese textiles recently. They featured a type of patchwork called Boro that was literally rags sewn together in several layers. It was then quilted and darned to within an inch of its life. It was a mark of poverty, but it was still amazing what could be done with so little.

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams film is absolutely awesome - I watched it on a home DVD and sort of regretted it, it would be an even better experience if you see it in 3D and/or IMAX. Cave art is normally not my thing - the insurmountable difficulties of interpretation/understanding mean there's not much more I can do but gawp and enjoy, because as soon as I start thinking anything more complex about it, I know it can only ever be pure speculation - but this film gave me the shivers, not just for the art itself but for the atmosphere it conjures. Plus it's got radioactive crocodiles, so can't be all bad.

"the insurmountable difficulties of interpretation/understanding mean there's not much more I can do but gawp and enjoy" is why I love cave painting, and why when I created art I was so fascinated by it.

*eta* I'll hold off until I've exausted attempts to get the wrong region 3d blu ray to work on the wife's bluray drive on her workstation

Just watching the last episode of the BBC4 Greek art show on the iplayer, realised it's missing something, that's the effect Greek art had on the middle east and India, it did diffuse eastwards after Alexanders conquests

Gold lunula and disks, Ireland
By hammering gold into thin sheets and then forming it into objects such as sun disks, beads, oval plaques, and lunulas, or crescent-shaped neck ornaments decorated with geometric motifs, they created what were to become the most iconic gold artifacts of the early Irish Bronze Age (2200–1800 B.C.). Some 100 lunulas have been discovered by archaeologists, with more than 80 from Ireland alone, and much more early Bronze Age gold has been unearthed in Ireland than in nearby countries. Experts theorized, until recently, that Ireland was not only a center of gold production, but also, perhaps, a source of its unprocessed ore.

Gold wreath unearthed in Cyprus
ANKARA, TURKEY—A tomb complex containing three burial chambers and multiple burials has been excavated near the ancient city of Soloi in northern Cyprus. Two burial chambers in the 2,400-year-old complex were intact and contained human remains, a collection of imported symposium drinking vessels, jewelry, figurines, and weapons, while the third had been looted and was empty. One of the burial chambers also held an ivy wreath fashioned from gold that resembles wreaths usually found in Macedonian tombs. “This tomb complex surely proves that Soloi was in direct relationship with Athens, who was the naval power of the period. Soloi was supplying Athens with its rich timber and copper sources, and in return, was obtaining luxurious goods such as symposium vessels,” Hazar Kaba of Ankara University told Live Science. “A DNA project is also running on the bones to identify the degree of kinship between the deceased,” he added.